WHAT WILL THE WORD  BE LIKE IF NO ONE IN IT IS WISE?
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I am about to pose the same question Simon Winchester raised in his «KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW» book of 2023. This book came after his previous best seller known to all except me. It’s name is ´The Professor and the Madman’.  People praised that book, calling it Elegant, Scrupulous,  Brisk, Gracefully executed work, a Model of its kind… ( Will I ever get one tenth of these praises)

The question is: « What will the world be like if no one in it is wise?»

I must say that the question flabbergasted me as I had just written an article with my own question: » What would the world be if we never got the   Bible?» if my own question portends that the Bible is in our world, does it mean in Winchester’s question that there are wise people right now?

I am almost sure that if I go out today and ask people to name me some wise people they know around them, in the industry or in government, I may be surprised by the very low number. There may be some in the industry but within  the people who govern us and decide of our livelihood , not too many rank as wise.

I suppose i need to find the precise signification of the word wise to better appreciate what will come next. However, I need to open a parenthesis to explain my interest for Wisdom. (the capital I used shows my respect for this amazing word).

When I was 16-17, the word Wisdom fascinated me, wanting to know more and be wise. At the age of 20, I asked: « Wisdom where are you? » The answer I received was: «  You are still too young, wait till you are 40 ». I waited as it was recommended and at 40 I asked the same question.  The answer this time was : « Well,  It is good to know that you are still interested but now, you have to wait till you are 60”.

Twenty years were long to wait, but I kept reading, questioning , sharpening my curiosity to know a bit more of almost everything. When 60 came, the answer to that same famous question was rather different. »Well, if you have not yet reached it by now, you will never get it » . And that is how  my search ended. I was not shocked but learned to appreciate the question and its answer,

Back to the word ´wise ´!
Studying Solomon’s  book of Proverbs, I learnt that the wise man is the one who sees what is about to come. The real Hebrew word is what will be born.
The great sage Hillel had a different explanation. To the question: Who is the wise man? He said the one who learns from every other man. I liked this answer as well.

I stopped to consider the value of those  statements   and realized that indeed if I know what tomorrow will bring, I will be much smarter than the others . So I calmed down and went back to my daily activities remembering what i have just learned.

Here are more définitions:  But before doing so, I  cannot stop thinking and wondering what the answer to the question will be. The book has 400 pages and I am still on page 1. A lot more to go.
Wise means moderate, cautious, reasonable, avoiding excesses. Wise men are those we come to see with our problems to obtain solutions. They do not get upset and act appropriately, they are judicious, well informed and on their guard.


Furthermore , if we are surrounded by such people, everything should be fine. So  now, I am trying to I imagine a world without them. Thus the original question in the title. Since our world is somehow still functioning, maybe it is because we still have some wise people around for if they disappear, gone is our world.


Yes, it is hard to imagine wise being  inexistant. We lived several millenniums with what we had and life went on. Maybe we should be satisfied with what we have, since good day, bad day, the show goes on. And that show is our life. Only us make it what it is.  


I refuse to imagine a world without wise people. Granted, there may not be too many of them as sadly the world is full of unwise people and I say so seeing the way much of the countries  of the world operate . Corruption, crime, carelessness, poor education are factors that contribute to what a happy country should not be . I sure wish I am told that I am wrong in my thinking and I shall wait to see what happens.